Mark Williams is terrifyingly the difference-maker for the Suns

Few players on the Phoenix Suns' roster enter the 2025-26 season with more question marks hanging over them than 23-year-old center Mark Williams. Coming over to The Valley from the Charlotte Hornets this offseason - in a deal that saw Phoenix give up what amounted to a pair of first round picks - Williams will be the starting center for this team.

That's if he can stay healthy, which after three seasons in the league is far from a guarantee. The 44 games he managed last season worryingly represented a career high, while the fact he is now eligible for an extension on his rookie deal complicates matters even more. Williams is also yet to appear in preseason action, and that might not change during their two-game trip to Macau in China.

Play of Williams is biggest difference-maker on Suns' roster.

This is a gamble with some upside however, which is why the franchise traded for Williams in the first place. To this point in his career - as has been painfully pointed out - Williams has not been a good rim protector. Combine that with the fact he only plays about half the games during a season, and having him as a key player on your roster is a problem.

That is the realistic approach to all of this - but with Kevin Durant having left for Houston this summer - the Suns are now entering into a rebuilding phase. Given they don't have their own draft picks, they are able to take chances on players that many other teams would not. This can backfire - but given they don't have anything to lose right now - trading for Williams can also pay off in a big way.

If he somehow were to play 60 games this season - again unlikely given the Los Angeles Lakers literally vetoed a trade for him after seeing his medical records - then he alone raises the Suns' floor. If he could also morph into a more reliable rim protector on top of that, then suddenly this team could realistically win more than the 36 games they managed last season with Durant.

The Suns finished fourth from bottom in defensive rating last season, giving up an awful 117.7 points per game. That was with Jusuf Nurkic manning the middle for much of the season, before Nick Richards took over after the deadline. The hope is that rookie Khaman Maluach can help in that regard - and the early returns look promising - but Williams can be the x-factor.

If he can stay on the court, average a double-double and turn in the best defensive season of his career to date - a relatively low bar to clear - then the Suns' front office will look smart for having taken the chance on him. Quite what to pay him moving forward will then only get more difficult, but that is a conversation for another day. Pinning all your hopes on Williams? As scary as it is enticing.